Buying property - How to proceed? Realtor, bank, owner?

Call immediately if something comes up. Possibly also consider new construction and try to use word of mouth. Really tell every work colleague, buddy, club that you are looking. Just look at our village. Only the slow movers or someone who is ashamed to sell end up on the portals. My parents' neighbor was hospitalized last week. Word of mouth says he won't be coming home. People are already contacting relatives, his buddy the lawyer, the legal guardian. I assume that neither the house nor the building plot will ever appear on a portal. It's normal for months to pass in between. Roughly, you should already know what you can or want to afford.

start talking to your bank now so that you can already narrow down what would be feasible and what would not during your search. As soon as something comes up that you like, contact the agent or owner (if not sold through an agent). If suddenly something suitable is found today or tomorrow, still take a look, even if there has not yet been a conversation with the bank.

Welcome here in the forum.

Regarding financing: You need to clarify your financial framework regardless of a specific property. You basically already have equity, but you have not yet revealed your monthly income. Do you want to finance alone? Or together? It’s time to decide now.

To clarify the financial framework, I would choose any property in your region (one that you obviously like and think fits your framework) and run the whole thing by the bank/advisor with the exposé. Likewise, be sure to ask about the upper limit of a possible financing.

Thema Bank: Ich bin bei einer reinen Onlinebank

[*]You can still ask a local bank.
[*]You ask a financing broker like Interhyp, Dr. Klein, or a small local broker from the Yellow Pages, for example
[*]You ask an online comparison portal

Regarding house hunting:

Currently I have no house in mind and the real estate market here is not such that every day dozens of interesting offers appear.

It may therefore take months until something good comes onto the market. Still coordinate with a lender?

That’s how it is everywhere. The interesting things are online within one day and offline again just as fast. Therefore, it is important that you clarify finances in advance and can strike directly—in the worst case everything within one day: review offer, viewing, and commit to the owner. If you hesitate at any point because you have no clue yet, then the house goes to someone else. Anyway, the really interesting properties rarely end up online but go under the table.

Buying a house is a long-term(!) matter, especially if you already see now that the market doesn’t offer much. The first houses you need will pass you by, but that is a learning process. It is important that you start concretely and clarify what you can afford financially, what you want, and how you want to live.

It can therefore of course take months before something good comes onto the market. Still, should you already discuss with a lender?

You should now find out what you can afford at most (bank), want (you), or must (region) and also thoroughly inform yourself now to define your requirements: what features the house should have, location, plot, floor plan, age, renovation status, etc.

When you are at this stage and have found THAT house, you should be able to commit quickly and solidly without much hesitation, otherwise someone else will buy it: bank approval, contact with an appraiser, quick estimation of renovation costs.

No hasty decisions before that.

And I can only agree with , depending on the region, good offers do not even make it onto the portals.

The neighbor of my parents was admitted to the hospital last week. Word of mouth says he won’t be coming home anymore. People are already contacting relatives, his buddy the lawyer, the legal guardian. I assume that neither the house nor the building plot will ever appear on any portal.

Anyway, the really interesting properties rarely end up online but are sold off the record.

And I can only agree with @haydee, good offers often don’t even make it to the portals depending on the region.

That’s how it is. Unfortunately, real estate agents rarely shine with competence, almost as rarely as a camel goes through the eye of a needle. Sellers turn to an agent when they can’t get rid of the property because the property and the price expectation don’t match – and bad agents (unfortunately the majority) gladly take on such assignments. Broadly speaking: agents offer what someone (once viewed, often understandably without further questions) wants to get rid of. I wrote, among other places, here: , which "alternative" ways are more efficient. Depending on the type of property you are looking for, sometimes the care service and sometimes the divorce lawyer are the better "source." Striking up a conversation at the bakery café in the desired location is also a good way. Or you follow the garbage truck once: you can also see well which properties are vacant.

Or you follow the garbage truck for a while: you can also see well which properties are vacant

It keeps getting more creative